'Calm down, calm down, calm down, think logically,' Charles warned himself repeatedly in his mind. He looked around, everything looked like a routine police interrogation. The only exception was that the female agent was no longer present.
'A lot of things may have happened during the short period of time when I lost consciousness. For example, they may have searched my soul or poured Veritaserum into me. Even if not, there may be a magic item here that can detect lies. So, I must be careful with my words and actions.'
"You violated my rights," Charles decided to preemptively strike.
"Oh? How do you say this?" Agent Amir asked.
"You used Veritaserum on me. According to the Empire law, this is illegal."
All Empire citizens are required to take a political science course to understand Empire's laws and regulations. Any individual who wants to vote in an election for any position, including Council elder, must pass a test to prove that they have some understanding of politics and government institutions. And the predecessor Charles naturally also took this course.
"With <Wartime Mobilization Act> in effect, any individual suspected of being a spy can have these rights revoked as long as there is sufficient evidence."
"Then what evidence do you have? Is it because my soul has some mutations?"
"Some mutation?" Agent Amir sneered, "Tell me, how can a First Tier Arcanist with above-average qualifications resist Veritaserum who can even work with Sixth Tier Arcanist?"
Charles's heart skipped a beat, but he tried his best to control his facial expression without revealing any flaws.
"Like I said, it's a mutation. I may be one of the 'Awakened Ones's that appeared because of the recent Magic Revival."
"The mutation of Awakened Ones is not as drastic as yours. Moreover, they all have one thing in common, that is, there is 'Primordial Runes' in their Soul Dimension. Where is yours?"
'Damn,' Charles cursed in his heart. He told himself over and over again to calm down. Feeling his violent heartbeat, he desperately controlled himself and tried to lower his heartbeat. God knows if this agent has mastered some kind of magic that can hear his heartbeat.
"I don't know; my mutation must be unique." He replied calmly.
"Really? What abilities have you acquired?"
"I'm not sure. I just know that I seem to be getting smarter. Many things I didn't understand before have become easier. I can absorb knowledge at a faster rate."
"This explains why you have been in the Library for two weeks, and why you suddenly have the qualifications to break through to the Second Tier position." Amir commented.
"I will ask you a few questions. Please answer truthfully. Are you Charles·Wentworth?"
"Yes, I am."
"Are you a spy sent to infiltrate Empire?"
"No."
"Do you have any ill intentions towards the Empire and its people?"
"No."
"Who caused your sudden change?"
"It's my awakened talent, nothing else."
Amir stared straight into his eyes for a full minute without even blinking, and Charles stared back at him without flinching. Then, the agent calmly stood up from the chair and walked out.
He quickly walked into a room full of holographic screens.
"How's it going?"
"The equipment indicates he is telling the truth," Agent Naya replied, "He may be innocent."
"This is not enough to clear his suspicion. Since he is immune to Veritaserum, it is possible that he is also immune to our 'Lie-Detection Barrier'."
"That makes sense."
"Where are the new test results?"
Amir had searched the brain and soul of Charles. But he was not satisfied with the results and wanted more precise information. So he applied for more advanced equipment for testing. Under normal circumstances, this would not be possible - at least not so easily approved. But with the outbreak of the war, many things became easier to do.
"It hasn't been sent yet," she replied. Amir nodded, and then began to check Charles's behavioral surveillance videos over the past month.
"Look," Naya said, pointing at the screen.
"I saw it."
They discovered that something was wrong with him when he was at the Library. After taking a nap, he woke up feeling very confused about his surroundings. Then, he held his head in pain and screamed.
"What did he mutter?"
Naya tapped a few times on the floating virtual keyboard, and then they heard Charles's voice. "I'm not dead?..."
"What happens after that?"
"There is no sound. And it's impossible to read his lips from this angle."
Amir frowned, knowing that this was due to the poor quality of the cameras. College students had protested the lack of privacy in certain areas of the campus. So the school made concessions and did not monitor students' private study areas.
However, in order to prevent students from destroying the Library's public property or conducting illegal activities in these rooms, some cameras are still necessary. However, compared with the Empire's current standards, the quality of these cameras is really not flattering.
After that, there was no abnormality in the video until Charles hurriedly searched for something on the watch. The anti-peeping technology of the Magic Terminal watch is very well designed. Only the owner can see the screen, so the camera cannot capture anything.
However, Naya has advanced access rights, so she directly called up the search history of Charles.
"This kid is really suspicious," she commented. Search records show that Charles searched for information about the Imperial Family family, specific people with power within the Empire, and Information about the history of Old Era. In her career as a counterintelligence agent, she has captured many people whose souls have been stolen by alien life forms. Usually, the next move of these people is to use the World Wide Web to search for basic information about the Empire.
"The results are out," Naya said while opening the new file. "According to the results, the mutations in his soul, magic power, and Battle Aura are quickly returning to the original state recorded in our database."
"This may mean that the 'Soul-Possession Curse' used on him is very advanced. Before long, our system will be unable to detect anything, and this spy can use the identity of Charles to live without any flaws." Amir said.
"This may also mean that the mutation is only temporary and everything will return to normal." For the sake of rigor, Naya proposed another possibility. This is not the first time they have encountered this situation.
"Pay attention to this anomaly," he said, pointing to a place on the data. After reading it, Naya frowned, because it related to Charles's memory. Their equipment was unable to read his memory; another manifestation of his abnormal immunity. However, they detected a fluctuation that showed that Charles had received a large number of memories in the past few weeks. This is another typical characteristic of those who have been taken away.
"Submit evidence." Naya tapped the keyboard a few times, and the two began to wait. About five minutes later, they received a notification: [Approved.]
For the first time, a faint smile appeared on Amir's unsmiling face. His department has many restrictions to prevent corruption and abuse of power. One of them is that they must submit evidence to artificial intelligence, which will analyze the information and determine whether there is enough evidence to treat the suspect as a foreign spy. Once he receives the approval notice, he can treat Charles as a spy and no longer need to worry about his so-called civil rights.
With a calm demeanor, he walked back to the interrogation room.
"Charles·Wentworth, you were arrested on suspicion of espionage."
"What? There's no proof of that!"
"No, we have sufficient evidence. No, I suggest you cooperate to get leniency. Otherwise..."
Charles gritted his teeth, his eyes almost bursting with fire. "What else?"
"Otherwise you will have a taste of the torture chamber. No matter which method I use, I will get the information I want."
Charles opened his mouth, then closed it; he repeated this action three times, and finally closed his mouth completely.
'This is bad. I have to find a way out of this mess.'
His brain was running rapidly, trying desperately to think of a feasible way to escape. 'My ability. Maybe it can send me back to the past 24 hours ago.'
This was an extremely bold and far-fetched idea, but he wanted to give it a try because this might be his last chance to survive. So, Charles closed his eyes, and this action immediately made Amir alert.
Charles suddenly felt like the world was spinning, as if he was stuffed into a high-speed washing machine. After what seemed like a century, everything finally stopped spinning, and he slowly opened his eyes.
He found himself sitting in the Library and had just finished reading the last book. He did not show any abnormality, but looked at the time on his watch extremely calmly.
'Successful,' he was ecstatic in his heart, 'I have returned to the time before I was suspected of being a spy!'